Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Zombie Apocalypse (25)
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[The first entity that humanity cannot handle has been born.]
The sound echoed through my mind, and at the same moment, a massive shockwave hit hard enough to shake the entire officetel.
Composure naturally kicked in, letting me pinpoint the origin of the attack without effort.
'Wait, does this vibration alone trigger Composure?'
My skill from Survival Rules number one, Composure, activates in moments of crisis.
An entity humanity can't handle—one invisible to the eye—packing that kind of power?
"Huh. What was that?"
Na-eun's reaction was muted. Either she misheard it in her half-asleep daze, or she just didn't know how to respond.
This is seriously dangerous.
I shot up from the bed like I'd been launched and scanned the direction the shockwave came from.
It definitely started from the gas station.
I peered out the window at the distant station.
And there, the bizarre phenomenon unfolding from it.
"It's getting dark."
Streetlights were winking out one by one.
From the intermittent thuds, it seemed like something was smashing them. But why?
"Does it hate the light?"
Na-eun murmured softly beside me as we both stared outside.
It was 11:20 PM—a pretty late hour.
Even after the zombie apocalypse began, Korea still had power, so streetlights glowed every night.
Zombies hadn't zeroed in on spots with just a few people yet, so some buildings had lights flickering on here and there.
Places like our officetel, where people lived, would keep lights on unless everyone turned in early.
Kwaaaaang!!!!!
An even louder boom rattled the air.
Na-eun gripped my arm tight, her voice trembling as she spoke.
"That wasn't just me hearing things in my sleep, right?"
"The officetel shook too. Na-eun, kill the lights first. It looks like it's targeting lit-up spots."
Streetlights vanishing one by one. Houses with lights on, gone.
What the hell just got born?
An entity humanity can't handle?
Did they sneak in an orc or ogre corpse or something?
What kind of bastard is this Plague Lord, anyway?
A flurry of thoughts raced through my head, vanishing the instant Na-eun switched off the lights.
"We're not the only ones in this officetel. Everyone needs to kill their lights. Grab weapons. Pack as much food as we can in the bags."
"Yeah, you're right... Weapons? You wanna fight that thing? No way!"
In the dark, I couldn't see her face clearly, but I could picture it overflowing with worry.
"What if we have to bash through zombies blocking our escape? We cleaned up during the day, but better safe than sorry."
"Oh. Right. Got it. Should I turn the lights back on to pack?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
The second Na-eun flipped the switch, we sprang into action.
We'd patched the hole in the gym bag from the Bulkwangpa fight with duct tape, so we stuffed it with high-calorie energy bars and a bit of water first. Then we strapped cardboard guards to our arms and legs.
I wrapped three baseball bats tight around my left arm and gripped one in my right hand.
Even as we geared up, massive crashes kept coming—streetlights toppling, and now the roar of collapsing buildings.
Once we'd donned our best gear and readied to bolt, we killed the lights and stepped out.
"Kill your lights! That thing we can't handle is hitting lit-up places first!"
I bellowed it out, figuring as long as we dodged that impossible freak, other zombies didn't matter.
"Kill the lights! Lights out!"
I even heard the voice of the guy from the fourth floor—the one who'd given us the squeaky toy today.
Why's it so quiet downstairs? Say something, damn it!
"Let's check the floors below."
"Ugh... I hate this."
Me too—the more we lingered, the less I wanted to stay.
The officetel was fine for hunkering down five days solo, but anything longer meant we needed a proper group.
We headed down and checked for light leaking through the peepholes.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
All dark. Confirmed, we bolted back up the stairs.
Na-eun had gone ahead to the first floor, and she was standing stock-still in front of Room 104.
"Na-eun, what's up? Problem?"
I rushed over, and she sighed, shaking her head.
"This pervert bastard."
Up close, her face was scrunched in disgust as she spat it out.
The distant crashes of something huge breaking grew nearer, but we could hear similar thuds right at the front door.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"You can't get infected, you psycho!"
Light seeped from Room 104, where something mindless rammed the door in steady rhythm.
"Na-eun, step back."
As she moved toward Room 106 and confirmed its darkness, I swung the bat.
With three strapped to my left arm, two-handing was tricky, but I could still swing hard.
Kaaaang!
Fueled by pure irritation, the doorknob shattered in one hit.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"What the...?"
I figured a zombie would burst out, but no reaction?
Door handle smashed but no exit? I slipped my fingers in and eased the door open slow.
Just as I'd demanded—a barricade of desks and furniture piled high. Beyond it, the shaggy-haired guy from 104, now a zombie, body-slamming rhythmically until he spotted me.
"Kureleleleong!"
His eyes bloodshot, he thrust his hand through a furniture gap.
I peered past into the room.
Brightly lit, a headless female zombie corpse sprawled naked in the center, wrapped crudely with a towel around the stump to make it round. Guess that's what he was doing when he turned.
If my hunch was right, he'd caught the contaminated mana from that zombie corpse during sex.
Anyway, damn Room 104 had turned zombie.
Kwaaaaaang!!!!!
Not much time had passed, but the building demolition sounds were way closer now.
Na-eun hurried from 106, peeked into 104, and cursed.
"You pervert bastard! If you're gonna die, at least go clean!"
Smashing that slapdash furniture wall, killing the 104 zombie, and killing their lights? Honestly risky.
Even with Survival Rules' homeostasis, it wasn't full immunity.
Thud thud kwaaaaang!!!!!
An even closer boom.
"What do we do? Head back up? This place is the only lit spot."
Na-eun suggested bailing on entry, and I was about to agree when—
Kwaaaaaang!!!
The wall of Room 104—opposite where we stood—collapsed.
"Na-eun. Run."
"Got it."
Did I screw up by sticking my neck out?
We could've just killed our lights quietly and waited for it to pass. Why'd I stir things up into this mess!
Shatter.
The evolved zombie smashed 104's fluorescent lights? Glass breaking as we climbed to the second floor, holding our breath, waiting for it to move on to the next streetlight.
I peeked north window down at the officetel front yard.
Shatter.
It smashed the first-floor hallway window, vaulted out to the yard, then suddenly whipped around.
All officetel lights should be out by now...?
I'd checked the second floor myself.
Fourth floor, Peepy guy probably did the rounds.
Third floor... couldn't check from 303, it's blocked.
"Ah, Jung Jun-ho, you bastard..."
Thump.
As I muttered the curse under my breath, the evolved zombie leaped huge into the third floor.
"I... I made eye contact..."
Na-eun, clutching my arm, shivered, her voice thick with terror.
"You locked eyes with that thing?"
Kwaaang.
Something shattered overhead.
Na-eun nodded frantically, face pale with fear.
We have to run.
Kwaaaaang!
The instant I decided, the third-floor hallway crumbled.
"Kyaaak!"
Na-eun screamed, and a zombie charged from the dust cloud.
Composure triggered—time slowed, options flooded my mind.
But dodging wasn't among them.
Na-eun was right behind me.
I thrust out my left arm, bundled bats forward.
Kaaaaang!
"Krgh...!"
Zombie's fist met my bat shield, shock ripping through my body like my arm shattered.
Na-eun braced me, but barely blocking one hit told me my odds of winning were slim to none.
Moonlight glinted off its eyes—still black, not red.
The thing tilted its head at my bat shield, lifted its striking fist, stared, then grinned.
"That thing's got... reason."
Or maybe not reason—madness fit better.
"Na-eun. I'm jumping from here. Can't fight in this hallway."
Too narrow to swing a bat sideways.
Needed open space.
"What? What about me?"
"Run upstairs."
It showed violence toward light and insane strength, but base was still zombie.
Probably reacted to noise like the rest.
"Come down and fight, you zombie bastard!!!"
I roared, smashed through the second-floor hallway window, and leaped.
Two stories? Easy landing with my enhanced body.
I brushed glass shards off as the evolved zombie landed silently beside me, grinning, fist flying.
Kaaaang!
Composure auto-triggered; bat shield blocked, but I flew back, slamming into the fridge at the entrance.
Thud!
Backpack full of emergency rations cushioned some, but the impact had me grinding my teeth.
Without Na-eun bracing me earlier, I'd have cratered into the stairs?
At least I still gripped my only weapon, the bat.
25 minutes till quest clear.
Could I survive that thing for 25 minutes?
"Damn it..."